Sunday, July 31, 2016

The Congress on Friday alleged that
business houses and hoarders had made Rs 2.5 lakh crore by artificially
inflating the prices of pulses with tacit support from BJP governments in the
states and at the Centre.

The accusation comes a day after party
vice-president Rahul Gandhi hinted at a scam behind the rising prices of
pulses.

“The directorate of revenue intelligence
and the Intelligence Bureau has full knowledge. We want an answer from the
Prime Minister why no action was taken.”

Surjewala then explained the
calculations behind the allegation.

“The MSP (minimum support price) of
pulses produced in India varies between Rs 45 and Rs 50 per kg. Even if a
processing fee of Rs 5 per kg, transportation charges of Rs 5 per kg and 10 per
cent profit (Rs 5 per kg) are added, the sale price does not go above Rs 65 per
kg. But the government allowed pulses to be sold for around Rs 150 to Rs 200
per kg,” he said.

“Similarly, the average price of
imported pulses in 2013-14 was Rs 34.73 per kg when the market price under UPA
was around Rs 70 per kg. In 2014-15, the import price was Rs 37.32 per kg and
in 2015-16, it was Rs 41.80 per kg. An impression was created that the prices
had soared because the imported pulses were costly. But the daylight robbery is
clearly discernible.”

Surjewala said the figure of Rs 2.5 lakh
crore was based on the consumption figure of around 23 million tonnes of pulses
annually, which means the Congress is alleging a “robbery” of about Rs 110 per
kilogram.

“Profiteering of Rs 85/90 per kg is writ
large,” he said, adding that there could be about a dozen private parties who
“did this robbery”.

He suggested the decision by many state
governments, particularly those of (BJP-ruled) Gujarat and Maharashtra, not to
extend the dates of the stock limits on pulses had facilitated hoarding.

“The stock limits on pulses were lifted
by the Gujarat government, headed by Modi, on 30.09.2013. On 27.09.2013, the
UPA government had decided to extend the validity of the restriction on
stocking of pulses, edible oils and edible oilseeds till 30.09.2014 but the
Gujarat government refused to extend the order beyond 30.09.2013,” he said.